A Man's World
by QuietCrusader
Summary: Sometimes people are forced to live shroud in darkness. This is a tale of one woman's escape to freedom and redemption. Bella has lived a double life for five years as an assassin. On the eve of her retirement she uses her course to help a friend. 1 shot


Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Alright, fair warning this is not me starting another story. So far this is just a one shot, however I have typed up a couple different takes to expand if people want me to. For sure fair warning it takes me anywhere from two to three weeks to update (mostly because I get mad side tracked creating new story lines, but whatever.

***

Bella's alarm clock went off at 3 am, and she moved quickly to turn it off to keep it from waking up her sleeping husband.

His arms tightened around her slightly as she moved to leave the bed, "Already?" he asked groggily.

"Yeah," Bella answered in a quiet voice untangling herself from his grasp.

"But you just got home yesterday." Edward's voice was heavy with sleep and heartache, he hated how little he saw of his wife, her job was demanding, but he knew that this was the last time she was going to leave his side so he relented and let her roll out of the bed.

Walking to the bathroom to shower quickly she whispered into the silent darkness of the early morning, "I know baby, but I'll be home tomorrow."

Edward rolled to the side of the bed his wife just vacated and smiled into her strawberry scented pillow at the prospect of finally having a normal life, in forty-eight hours his wife would no longer be a flight attendant and they could finally have the life that he had been dreaming about since he was eight.

Bella closed the bathroom door, clicking the lock behind her, something she avoided typically, but this particular morning she needed to make sure her husband wouldn't get the urge to join her, she needed to think.

Wasting no time, Bella stepped under the spray without waiting for the water to warm, and lost herself in her thoughts.

If someone would have told her the day before she graduated high school five years ago that she would be living a double life, keeping secrets from the boy that held her heart since kindergarten, she would have laughed at the absurdity until she snorted, but that was the day before graduation.

She still remembers the dinner with her father, and the three men in black suits that had joined them for her celebration at the local lodge.

"_Bells," her father began begrudgingly, "I would like to introduce you to some very old friends of mine, Aro, Marcus, and Caius Volturi."_

"_Hello," she replied politely not wanting her discomfort of the situation and her internal need to be with her boy to reflect in her actions._

"_It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Isabella; we've heard many promising things about you over the years." Aro had said with an extended hand while his brothers smiled and nodded in agreement._

_Against herself she replied with a laugh, "I'm not sure how promising the things you heard were, but I appreciate the gesture."_

_Dinner progressed as one would expect. The men in suits asked about Bella's plans for the future and how she liked growing up in a small town, and then listened intently while the young girl naively answered, all the while her father remained silent._

_Bella was curious of her father's behavior, but wrote it off. Charlie was never much of a talker._

_Pushing himself away from the table and patting his stomach in approval of the meal he had just ingested Caius spoke, "Well brothers, I think it's time to get down to business."_

_Bella curiously looked at her father, but was met with sad apologetic eyes._

"_No time like the present." Marcus chimed in tossing his napkin onto his plate. "Tell me Bella, what has Charles here told you about his past?"_

_Charles? The girl wondered, she'd never heard anyone call her father that, but she had no time to vocalize her internal question. Instead she told the men that she knew her father graduated high school and then took some time to find himself, before moving to Forks five years later, became a cop and married her mother._

"_Ah, yes 'to find himself' hmm, and did you Charles, find yourself?" Aro asked in a friendly tone that was borderline condescending._

_Charlie grunted, furious with himself that he couldn't protect his daughter from what was bound to haunt her 'till the end of time, he had tried so hard. He changed his last name, cut himself away from his family and moved to the middle of fucking nowhere, but still they found him. He should have known that they would find him, and to his displeasure they found her. Irritated with the direction of the conversation Charlie spat out to the men, "Can we just get this over with?"_

"_Of course old friend, of course," Aro replied merrily with a clap of his hand._

_Bella didn't know how or when the celebration dinner had taken this turn, but she found herself both intrigued and horrified as the three men told her a tale she had never heard before. _

_Those five years Charlie was "searching" for himself he was an assassin._

_Bella was stunned, her father the small town chief, was a hired killer? Her head spun while they continued to explain that he was a legacy and now it was her turn to take the preverbal torch._

"_Excuse me?" She whispered into her half-eaten piece of chocolate cake, "I'm getting married and going away to school in three months."_

"_Isabella, we certainly won't impose on your pending wedding, in fact we're quite excited to see you marry Mr. Cullen. He's very bright, would have been an asset to our cause had the proper blood flowed through his veins, instead we hold high hopes for future generations. As for school Isabella, that will unfortunately have to wait until another time." Fire was burning in Bella's eyes while Marcus spoke so callously of her happy ever after, and her heart clenched when Edward's name tumbled from his lips._

"_Ah, she's feisty Charles, much like you were so many years ago," Caius leaned into Bella, "It would be unwise to think that you can avoid this Isabella, it would be unfortunate if your future husband were to meet an untimely end."_

_Desperate, Bella looked to her father, this was surely a sick joke, but when Charlie wouldn't meet her gaze, she knew she was defeated._

_She nodded in acceptance as the men spelled out the next five years of her life and spun a twisted web of deceit that she would obediently abide by to secure Edward's safety._

_She was to pose as a flight attendant to allow for her massive amount of traveling._

_She was to spend three weeks starting at the end of June enduring a grueling training process that would double as training for her new job._

Five years later she was finally free, but she had asked a favor of her former masters.

This time when she left, she wasn't doing their bidding; she was doing something for her family.

Bella stepped out of the shower and tossed her hair up in a sloppy wet bun, and dressed quickly. She had spent more time under the spray than her schedule had allotted for.

When she opened the door to cross the room and quietly kiss her husband goodbye she was met with bright green eyes full of love and adoration, and unlike every other time over the last five years, she was able to smile at Edward and actually mean it.

For the first time in so long, she was eager.

"You should be asleep Mr. Cullen," she said placing her left knee and then the right knee on the bed to lean into her husband.

"So should you Mrs. Cullen," Edward murmured against Bella's lips before kissing her deeply.

Breaking away from the bed before she lost anymore time Bella said, "No, I should be out the door by now, and you should be asleep. The musical youth of Forks depend on a teacher who can actually keep his eyes open."

"I'm a band director," he argued with a crooked smirk he knew made her melt, "I teach with my ears, not with my eyes, love."

Bella shook her head as she gathered her overnight bag and flung it over her shoulder and went to exit the room.

Her hand stilled on the knob as it did every time she left his side and she looked over her shoulder at the shirtless man propped up on his elbows, "I will love you until the end of time you know that right?"

He smiled at her words and replied the same way he always did, "'Till the end of time love. Have a safe flight and get home to me soon."

His wife smiled at his words and then left their happy life to end someone else's.

Edward was counting down the minutes until his Bella would be in his arms again.

Bella arrived at the airfield twenty minutes late, not that it mattered, the private jet that was chartered couldn't leave without her.

Once she was secured in her seat, the plane lurched forward and in mere minutes she flying high above the state of Washington and headed for New York, it was time end things.

Normally Bella would sleep during her flights, but this time she was vibrating with anticipation and opted instead to let her thoughts run away. She would sleep when he's dead.

Rosalie Hale had been Bella's best friend since she moved to Forks in seventh grade. She was everything that Bella wasn't.

She was blonde, while Bella was a brunet.

She was outspoken where Bella liked to fade into the background.

She was tall and Bella was short.

She like cars and Bella liked books.

They were opposites, but they were everything to each other in only the way a best friend can be.

Now Rosalie was hurting and Bella had the means and the ability to save her. _'I'm going to hell anyway,'_ Bella thought with a grin, _'might as well do it thoroughly.'_

Rosalie Hale became Rosalie King three years ago; Bella was her maid of honor.

She didn't like Royce, he reminded her of the men and women she banished from the Earth day-in and day-out, but she kept quiet. Rosalie knew what she was doing, and maybe years of bloodshed had made Bella wary of strangers, none the less Bella watched.

Bella's travels kept her at a distance, so at first she had no idea that Royce was raping and beating Rose on a regular basis, but overtime she knew that something was amiss.

Rosalie had fallen out of love with her husband, and was having an affair with Bella's brother-in-law, Emmett. Bella and Edward had known fairly early. Emmett had asked for Edward's advise, he and Rosalie wanted to get married, but she was scared to leave Royce.

Maybe sensing that he was losing control, Royce moved Rosalie with absolutely no notice to the other side of the country.

New York was going to be the end of Rosalie, Bella was sure of it, and the night Royce put Rose in the emergency room with a broken collarbone, fractured rib and a concussion, Bella began to plot.

"Snow White, we're beginning our decent." The captain's voice rang loud over the empty cabin, ripping Bella from her thoughts.

'_Snow White,'_ she thought as she looked at her watch, already adjusted to Eastern Time, noon, _'and I used to love fairy tales.'_

It was true. Growing up Bella adored the tales of giants and princes and witches that her mother had read to her, but since the day she ceremoniously joined the Volturi that all came to a crashing halt. Every sentinel was renamed after a character from a fairy tale. Well, as much as one could be renamed after a book of lies created by an ancient order to cover up a thousand years of assassinations. Poetic really, once you think about it, every tale told of a hero that destroyed a villain in a fantastical way. Sometimes the truth is fantastical.

Bella couldn't help the grin that split her face, _'twelve hours.'_

***

After a brief meeting with Marcus, Aro and Caius to ensure the final stages of her plan, Bella had spent the remaining hours of her day following Royce King, three cars back and one to the left. Her training was ingrained.

Now she sat in darkness waiting in the couple's drive for them to return from a social function.

"What is she doing here?" Royce seethed as his headlights illuminated Bella leaning on the hood of her borrowed Vanquish smoking a cigarette.

"I don't know," Rosalie honestly answered, but her excitement was obvious.

The car stopped, and before her husband could tell her otherwise Rose had jumped from her seat and raced into her friends arms.

"Bella," she whispered into her best friend's neck as they held onto one another.

Bella made sure to keep her lit smoke away from her friend as she held her.

Keeping her voice low she ordered "Get into the car Rose."

Rosalie pulled away and looked at Bella quizzically, "Don't be ridiculous," she said obviously reaching for her friend's hand, "Come in for a drink."

Bella's expression darkened, "Get in the car Rosalie and stay there. No. Matter. What."

Unsure what to do, Rosalie looked back to her husband as he stood expectantly at his driver's side door then back to Bella's now pleading expression. "Trust me," Bella whispered, and Rosalie couldn't help but nod and do as her oldest friend requested, ignoring her husband's yells.

Once Rosalie was safely in the passenger seat, Bella locked the car, and turned to meet an enraged Royce.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing bitch?" Royce was furious, who the fuck did this _woman_ think she was?

Bella remained quiet, still smoking her cigarette, but pushed herself away from her perch.

Her blatant disrespect only angered Royce more, "Fucking answer me!"

"Royce," Bella said smoothly, "I'm going to be generous, a trait not many people get to see me display, and I'm going to give you ten seconds to get back into your car and drive away." She really wasn't being generous; he was going to die either way.

"Excuse me?" Royce questioned.

"You heard me," Bella answered unwavering taking another drag from her smoke. "Ten."

Royce began to see red. He was going to make Bella regret she ever crossed him. Yelling at a horrified Rose he demanded, "Rose, if you're smart you'll get your ass in the house!"

Bella laughed, fueling the fire that was burning in the man's chest. "Nine."

Again he yelled, "Get the fuck out of the car!"

"Eight."

"You'll regret this." He seethed as Bella continued to count.

"Seven."

Royce took a step closer, Bella didn't know who she was messing with, and her husband wasn't there to protect her. He wondered how Edward would take the news that he was a widower. Grinning bastardly he reasoned, "You can just leave Bella, and nothing will happen to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me either way," Bella said closing the gap between them. "Six."

"Rose, I won't tell you again. Get out of the car or watch me spend _quality_ time with your friend here." His emphasis on quality made Rose shiver from her seat, but when Bella, still facing Royce, told her to stay put she listened.

"Five." Bella drawled, "Time's running out Royce."

He stepped closer, inches separated the two and when Bella announced, "Four" he backhanded her across the face.

Rose screamed and scrambled to free herself from the car, she couldn't watch Royce hurt Bella, she wouldn't.

Bella's head jerked under the force of the contact, but the rest of her body remained stoically still. Taking the last drag of her cigarette, she flicked the filter away and wiped away the trickle of blood that collected at the corner of her lips with her thumb. "Rosalie, NO. MATTER. WHAT!"

Rose knew there was something about Bella in recent years that had changed, everyone had seen it, but no one said a word. This was a completely different woman than the one she grew up with. "Trust me." Bella had said, and trust her she did. Rose stayed in the car.

Again Royce smacked her, he enjoyed the rush he felt when his hand made contact with her face. Someone needed to put Bella in his place and he knew he was just the man to do so.

Bella's head jerked in the other direction, and a smile broke out across her face when she turned to meet Royce's glare. "Now, now Mr. King didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit a lady?" Bella knew her teasing would only anger him more, but she like a good fight, she wanted the adrenalin rush. It was going to be her last time feeling it; she was going to make it count.

"Yes," he answered with another slap, "but lucky for me you're not a fucking lady."

Bella spit the blood that was collecting in her mouth at his words to further prove his point. Bella knew she wasn't a lady, she was his murderer. You can't be both. With a wink Bella joked "Well, well, well, Mr. King you're not a stupid as you look."

Again he raised his arm to smack her, but Bella was through with his little displays of superiority. She caught his wrist mid air and contorted it until she felt it pop under her grasp.

Pain like Royce had never experienced shot up the arm that was now pinned behind his back. Somehow Bella had managed to twist his body and his back was to her chest, her little form holding strong as he began to flail.

A swift kick to the inside of Royce's right knee brought his towering stature down low enough that Bella could whisper in his ear. "Of all the men I've killed over the years. I'd like to thank you for making this the most enjoyable." With that he felt something slam against his temple paralyzing him momentarily as he crumbled to the ground.

Bella took the opportunity to look over her shoulder at a trembling Rose and pointed in her direction, "Look away!"

Rose obediently buried her face in her hands as she rocked herself. She was trying to organize the events that were playing on in her mind. One minute her husband was smacking her best friend and the next he was laying face up on their drive, while Bella hovered over him, a gun to his forehead.

"I can't watch this. I can't watch this. I can't watch this…" Over and over Rose repeated the lines as she heard the recognizable sound of skin against skin. Royce's whimpers turned into cries and Rosalie, unable to contain her natural human interest spread her fingers on her left hand giving herself a gap the peer through. She wished she hadn't, but it was too late to turn back now.

"I understand you Royce," Bella sneered leaning into him, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against his frontal bone, "there's something very powerful about having the upper hand. I guess it very fortunate for me that I always stack the deck."

Bella became strangely aware how silent Rose was being, no longer was she hysterical, and she took a brief moment to focus her friend in her line of vision.

The movement was nearly undetectable, but when a person his fighting for survival they become acutely aware of everything around. Seeing the opportunity to free himself, Royce arched his back off the ground and attempted to thrash away from the gun.

Bella recognized the move before her captive even had the chance to contemplate what he would do if he were free, it wasn't the first time she'd seen it.

Irritated Bella stomped her right foot onto Royce's sternum, knocking the wind from his lungs under the force. "Do you like games Royce?" He gasped in response, "No opinion. Well I tend to think that you do, otherwise you wouldn't have tried to gamble with your life like that. In case you haven't noticed this isn't a game Mr. King. I have a gun pointed to your head that can literally propel a bullet that will blow out the back of your skull and lodge itself six inches into the concrete below you in a hundredth of a second. You on the other hand, have a shattered wrist, and dislocated knee and," Bella paused to pull back her left fist before punching Royce in the throat, "now a swelling trachea. However, since you like games, I think we'll play one. How does that sound?"

Royce's breathing was minimal at best by this point, and he was making a conscious effort not to close his eyes. Somewhere deep inside he knew if he closed his eyes he would never open them.

Bella waited for Royce to answer, and she could feel her time tick away. Aggressively she took away his options and applied more pressure against his chest, the heel of her boot sinking into the flesh crevice below his breast bone.

"We're going to act a scene Mr. King. I'm going to play you, I hope you don't mind, and you're going to be Rose." Bella paused to contemplate the scenario and the seethed out, "Beg Royce! Beg like you made her beg. Pray to heartless gods that gave me the power to kill you."

"P-please, I didn't mean it. I-I take it b-back. I'm sor-sorry." Royce's whispered pleas escaped his throat intertwined with strangled gasps and choked sobs.

Bella reached down and grasped Royce's chin, compressing his cheeks into his molars. Shaking his head from left to right violently Bella cooed, "Aw Royce, I know you can do better than that. Harness your inner battered wife, I'm sure Rosalie left you with plenty of material."

Blinking away the tears that began to form in the corner of his eyes Royce shakily tried again. "I l-love my w-wife. I m-meant n-nothing by it. It won't ha-happen again. Please I'm begging."

Bella released his face with a violent shove, forcing his right check to scratch against the cold, rough drive. Bella pushed the gun into Royce's exposed temple. "Still not good enough," she replied in a sing-song voice.

Bitter and disgusted at his weakness and fear, Royce gritted his teeth and turned to meet his aggressor. He was going to die unless he changed his tactic. He decided on a different approach. "You won't get away with this," he seethed in a raspy voice. "I'm Royce fucking King. You'll be hunted down and you'll pay."

Bella let his words ring out and digested them for a moment, contemplation blatantly splayed across her facial features before turning to decided confidence, "Hmmm, I beg to differ."

Kicking his legs in frustration he screamed as loud as his failing vocal chords would allow in contempt. "I'm Royce King you bitch. You'll never get away with this! My father will make sure you go to jail! I'm Royce FUCKING KING!"

"And you are the least important person I have sent for judgment in a line of hundreds, and I haven't been caught yet." Bella's words we're solemn and concise, but not as calculated and well known as her parting line. "Royce Reginald King you have been tried, convicted, and will be executed by my hand for your sins."

Hearing the finality in Bella's words the tears once again began to stream down Royce's face. Shaking involuntarily, he clenched his eyes and murmured, "No, no, no, no," until the words lost their meaning to his ears.

Rosalie looked on in shock. Completely bewildered by the scene playing out before her until all at once the weight of it all collapsed upon her and she began to scream for Bella to stop and scratch for the door handle to free her from her safe confinement.

Bella was not distracted by Mr. King's final display of submission or Rosalie's pleas for Bella's sanity. She was resigned and continued stoically as her forefinger twitched in anticipation. "May your maker pass quick judgment and I meet your face in hell."

The corner of Bella's mouth turned up as she fluidly pulled back on the trigger of her gun. "_Il mio sin li libera_."

Click. Nothing.

Rosalie's screams were echoing off the walls around her as her tears blurred her vision, mascara stinging as it made contact with the fragile fleshy whiteness of her eyes.

Royce froze, unsure of what happened. Was he dead, he was unsure, he thought there would have been pain, but yet again the gun was pressed against his forehead, maybe death had been instantaneous?

It wasn't until Bella's genuine laughter could be heard resonating off the trees that surrounded his home that Royce braved opening his eyes to reveal Bella a few feet away hunched slightly, holding her abdomen with her left arm, right hand still clasped tightly on her gun.

"You," Bella paused as another round of chuckles ripped through her gut and she waved the gun carelessly signaling that she needed a moment. "You actually thought I would kill you out in the open? Without a silencer? Priceless."

Royce shifted with his new found freedom, able to move without the weight of Bella's firearm placed against his brain. His eyes raked over Bella's distracted form as she laughed at his expense then looked to his still open driver's door. He was planning his escape.

He was playing into Bella's trap.

Royce rolled onto his side, keeping Bella in his sights. '_The gun isn't loaded,'_ he thought with newfound glee, _'I could get away while that cunt laughs like a hyena.'_ He moved so that his good leg was bent beneath him to better propel himself towards his Mercedes.

Bella saw his feeble attempt and cut her maniacal guffaws short by dropping the empty magazine onto the ground and loudly inserting a full one into her modified Berretta. "You are dumb," Bella called out to Royce who paused in a crippled crouch upon hearing her words. "You already had your time to flee and I didn't offer a rain check. So I suggest you listen very closely, because really you're not in position to do much more than that."

Mr. King looked over his shoulder to see Bella meet his gaze at eye level, her newly loaded gun pointed accurately between his eyes and her pupils dilated under the rush of endorphins running through her blood stream.

"Because we're basically family," Bella said with a kind smile, her voice quickly turning cold. "I've decided to spare you. In return I'm taking Rosalie and you're going to grant her a divorce without question."

Royce involuntarily scoffed at her demands, but nodded none the less. He knew to give Bella what she wanted. _'Not like I actually have to in the long run.'_

"Oh, I see that little hamster wheel turning in there Mr. King, and trust that whatever you maybe plotting in that little brain of yours, I have already countered. So again, I will let you live and you will set her free."

"Fine," Royce said with venom and spit, "take that fucking whore, she's not worth it. Just go."

Bella rose to her feet and stepped closer Royce, her gun still aimed to kill, and patted the man on the head. "I'm so glad that we came to an understanding like adults. Ta-ta!"

With a wiggle of her free fingers she backed away from the man toward the driver's door of the Vanquish holding her best friend, and slid in silently never removing her sights from Rosalie's soon to be ex-husband.

The car came to life with a roar, the automatic headlights illuminated Royce's broken figure and he slid himself across the drive.

Rosalie looked at her friend's statuesque figure as she put the car in gear, all the screaming had made her voice horse. "Why," was all she managed to squeak out.

"We have a plane to catch," was Bella's terse reply as the two squealed out of the drive and away from Royce King.

***

Rosalie had collapsed upon the stress of the night as the two took off into the air. Her head lay peacefully on Bella's lap as she ran her fingers through her long blonde locks, twirling the slight curl at the end. All the while murmuring a tale Bella won't soon forget.

"And the queen questioned "Looking glass upon on the wall who's the fairest of them all?""

Exhaustion was seeping into Bella's every cell, but sleep never came. She wouldn't sleep until she was warm in her bed nestled next to her husband. She continued to whisper the story into the silent cabin as time rolled back and the pair approached their new lives.

It was dark, but Bella could recognize the large cities skyline like it was second nature, the glow making her heart stutter with anticipation.

"Snow White, we should be landing at the air field in approximately twenty minutes. I suggest you rouse your companion." With the captain's words Bella shook Rose's shoulders slightly whispering into her ear.

"Come on sleepy head, we're almost home."

Rose's eyes fluttered. Disorientated she gazed around the private plane momentarily perplexed until her blue eyes stared straight into brown. Then she remembered. She didn't want to remember.

Rosalie sat up abruptly her mind reeling with thousands of silent questions that her friend had no interest in answering and she made that overly obvious when she shifted her attention to the small suitcase at her feet.

Bella unzipped her carry-on, pulling out the articles of clothing she had left her house in the night before then preceded to pull off her battered battle-wear in silence.

Rose looked on at Bella's blatant lack in modesty, but Bella wasn't concerned, in her line of work modesty was something she was stripped of years ago.

Before long Bella had transformed herself from the assassin she was trained to be back to the mousey Bella Cullen who lived in her more-than-modest home in Forks, Washington with the school's band director.

The overhead system chimed, informing the plane's passengers that decent had begun.

"You should buckle up," Bella said with a smile, "we're almost home."

Rosalie nodded her head slowly, fumbling with shaking hands for her seat belt, but was unable to complete the simple task with trembling hands.

Bella recognizing her friend's dilemma reached across Rose's lap and swiftly fastening her seatbelt.

The plane began to dip causing Rose's stomach to turn, she never was very good at flying, as a child she had a reoccurring dream of dying in a plane crash.

Her nerves were getting the best of her as the aircraft jostled.

The silence wasn't helping.

Bella sensing the unease began to speak in a soothing voice. "What you saw tonight Rosie," she paused to let out an exaggerated breath, "well I would like it very much if it was our little secret."

Rose, who had been looking at nothing in particular, turned to fasten her gaze upon the woman she had thought she knew better than herself for over a decade.

Bella's eyes were closed, her face relaxed, giving her an innocent appearance as she awaited her companion's response, but upon further inspection, Rose could make out the dark crescents under her lashes, and the grey hair that was beginning to sprinkle amongst the young woman's mahogany locks. At that moment, Rose realized, that Bella wasn't the woman she had claimed to be, and the secret that she held was making her far older than the twenty-three she actually was.

Rough from sleep and horse from over-use Rose's barely recognizable voice broke the silence between the two. "I have a lot of questions."

Without moving Bella whispered, "I know you do."

Laying her head on her friends oxford covered shoulder Rose asked "Will you answer them?"

Tilting her own head to rest upon her friends Bella responded, "Well that depends on the question."

Rose thought for a moment, "I guess it's safe to say that you aren't a flight attendant, huh?"

Bella chuckled, caught off-guard by her friend's school of thought, jostling Rose as her head still rested on her shoulder, "That would be safe to say."

Rose pushed herself back into a seated position, turning her torso to make eye-contact. Bella, feeling her stare upon the side of her face, turned to meet Rosalie's gaze. "And Royce?"

Bella contemplated for a moment, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth as she answered, "He's not a flight attendant either."

Without hesitation Rose shoved Bella's shoulder roughly, causing the woman to sway as they both laughed, Rose punctuating the action with, "You bitch."

Bella's guffaws quickly turned into an unhealthy sound cough, a consequence from the ugly habit she had picked up over time. Everyone had their vices, nicotine made killing easier to deal with. Another thing Bella planned to leave behind her now that her sentence was complete.

The hacking noise quickly sobered the lighthearted mood the two had previously shared, and once again Bella met Rose's determined gaze. Wordlessly the blonde repeated her previous question, _'and Royce?'_

Bella paused, wiping the side of her mouth with her thumb and inspecting the nonexistent matter collected there before rubbing it against the palm of her other hand. She had a decision to make, _'No more secrets'_, she thought and resigned herself to revealing as much of the truth as she thought her friend could handle. "He won't be a problem anymore."

Rose nodded. As she replayed the events of the previous evening in her mind, she knew without a doubt that when they had left Royce was still alive, but seeing the stoic set of Bella's features, she knew without a doubt that Royce wasn't alive now. As sick as it made her feel to admit it, the thought made Rose happy.

Bella had given her what she craved more than anything else in the universe, her freedom, and at that moment Rose decided to give Bella something in return, anonymity.

As the landing gear began to nosily descend from its confine, Rosalie gripped Bella's hand in her own and spoke unwaveringly, "It's our little secret."

***

Despite being a Saturday, Edward's school schedule had made it nearly impossible for him to sleep anytime past seven, and like clockwork his body began to shake from its slumber.

Rolling onto his back, and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands he groggily grumbled out in protest, "Fucking internal clock."

His noise, though as unobtrusive as it seemed at the early hour, caused the small figure beside him to stir and he was quickly filled with guilt.

Bella had gotten in sometime between four and five that morning, crawling in bed still wearing her Volturi Airlines button front.

Edward rolled onto his side, propping himself onto his elbow and watched as his wife peacefully mumbled incoherent statements. He was surprised as the words trickled from her rosy lips. He had remembered his wife's sleep talking from when they were children and even into their teen years, but since they've been married her unconscious conversations with herself had all but halted. A smirk played at his lips when his name tumbled from her mouth and she snuggled tighter against her pillow.

Leaning down, Edward placed a chaste kiss against his wife's forehead, earning a contented sigh for his love filled action.

Excited to start his new life, Edward rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of sleep pants, but decided to forgo a shirt. Bella liked Edward's toned body, and it made his chest swell with pride that after seventeen years by her side and eight years of intimacy he could still see the lust in Bella's eyes as her gaze raked over his form.

Careful not to wake his wife, Edward slipped silently from their room, taking extra effort to twist the knob on the door back into place, rather than allowing it to click closed.

The moment, the door shut behind him, Bella's eyes shot open, and she instinctively scanned the room from her spot on the bed, and then strained her ears for Edward's movements as he made his way through their home.

Edward descended the stairs, humming to himself the theme from Mission Impossible, pleased with his ability to exit their room undetected, and then smiled, he was going to serve his wife breakfast in bed.

It was while thoughts of Eggs Benedict and chocolate chip pancakes occupied his mind that Edward passed through his living room, barely glancing at the couch, but stopped abruptly, and slowly turned to the blonde sleeping on his sofa.

"Rosalie?" Edward asked.

Groggily Rose rubbed her face into her pillow, before recognizing she wasn't in the confinement of her husband's bed. She was safely resting under the protection of Bella's roof three thousand miles away.

"Hey Eddie," she responded sitting up and adjusting her cocktail dress.

Edward looked around for any sign of Royce or luggage, but came up empty handed, "Don't take this the wrong way Rose, but what are you doing here?"

Rosie scoffed, but couldn't hide the amusement in her tone. '_What am I doing here?'_ she thought. _'Well Edward, I was in New York minding my own business and getting the shit beat out of me on a daily basis. When out of nowhere your wife came, smoking a cigarette, and attacked my husband, kidnapped me, and I'm sure she had him killed.'_ Rose chuckled darkly at her internal monologue, but merely said, "Bella was in New York and offered me a trip home free of charge that I couldn't pass up."

Edward furrowed his brow in confusion. Scratching the small trail of hair that began around his naval and journeyed below the top of his pants he questioned, "Where's your luggage? Does Royce know you're here and why are you wearing and evening dress?"

Rose smiled reassuringly; years of hiding abuse gave the woman the ability to lie flawlessly, "Edward," she said his name with an air arrogance, "Of course my husband knows I'm with Bella, but the whole thing was very spur of the moment. Royce and I were at a charity function in Manhattan when Bella called me from JFK. With some convincing I was able to explain to Royce that it would be easier for me to go straight to the airport from the hotel and then purchase whatever necessities I'd need."

Edward nodded, utterly astounded. That didn't sound like Royce King at all, but Rose was his wife, she would know him best.

Shrugging his shoulders, Edward smiled, "well since you're here do you want Eggs Benedict or chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast?"

Taking to her feet and stretching her arms above her head Rose responded, "Chocolate chip pancakes. They're Bella's favorite and she deserves something special."

Edward's smile expanded. Even though Rose tends to come off a little rough around the edges she cared for his wife almost as much as he did. Leaning down to retrieve the remote for the television Edward agreed. "That she does."

With a small flick of his wrist, the television came to life; a child's cartoon of a sponge shaped man living in a pineapple occupied the sixty-four inch screen.

Rose quirked a delicately manicured eyebrow in Edward's direction, but he only sheepishly shrugged in answer to her unspoken question and changed the channel to the local news, where the breaking headline sucked the oxygen from Rosalie's lungs.

"Straight out of New York City," the anchor announced, "It saddens me to announce that at three thirty am Eastern Time, Reginald King, Mayor of Seattle, received word that his eldest son Royce lost his life while driving home from a charity function in the city."

Rose's knees gave out from under her as she sank onto the couch. Edward remained frozen staring in disbelief as the story unfolded before his eyes.

"Upon investigation, authorities can confirm that Mr. King was three times over the legal alcohol driving limit for the state of New York. Thankfully Mr. King's wife Rosalie King had left the function earlier in the evening to catch a flight out of John F. Kennedy Airport. Our condolences go out to Royce King's parents, siblings, and widow."

Bella breathed a sigh of relief when the echo of the broadcast filtered up through the vents below and resonated throughout her bedroom. The Volturi had done their part.

Edward stood statuesque and wide-eyed, unsure of what to do, while Rosalie tears streamed down her face and she stared blankly at the screen whispering, "I'm free."

Rolling onto her back, five years of weight lifted from her narrow shoulders, and tears of happiness pooling in her eyes Bella whispered to her ceiling, "I'm free."

***

If you like it, tell me. If you'd like me to expand it by telling different assignments Bella's gone on, tell me. If you'd like to pick it up three years later, tell me. If you'd like me to do a combo of the two and totes use the author's flashback ability, tell me.

Reviews make me happy


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